The legacy of DH Lawrence must be saved for the nation

We are united in our belief that DH Lawrence is one of the world's most important writers and that he has a unique place in British culture that should be celebrated. We are therefore appalled by Broxtowe council's proposal to close the DH Lawrence heritage centre in his home town of Eastwood.

The centre attracts visitors from across the country and around the world who want to learn more about Lawrence's life. It also uses Lawrence's legacy to encourage creativity in future generations in this corner of Nottinghamshire. Industrial communities like Eastwood are often overlooked. Cultural funding can all too easily be concentrated only in the centre of our cities. We call on Broxtowe council to guarantee the continued survival of this national asset.

It is interesting to note Nick Clegg's reference to the Liberal Democrats as "the party of Beveridge" at their conference. I fail to see how this could still be the case when Lib Dems are all too often heard referring to employers' national insurance contributions as a "job tax". Surely, this would be akin to the Labour party abandoning Bevan's NHS when it regained power in 1997?

The question has to be: just how far from Beveridge's principles can the Lib Dems stray while still presenting themselves as Beveridge's party? As somebody who was hoping for reward at the end of a lengthy contribution, I would suggest that they have already strayed too far.

This is far easier than is generally assumed. Some legislation banning retention of personal data is, in my view, misguided. It is still the case, I believe, that there is no prohibition on the retention or even disclosure of personal data relating to dead people, which would surely be invaluable to future historians so long as it survived the data police during the subjects' lifetimes.

The police aren't above the law

People may wish to recall the evidence I gave to the public administration select committee on 23 October 2007. I made it clear that we had worked closely with the CPS and leading counsel throughout the investigation and that at every critical stage, including any decision to arrest, appropriate advice had been taken. This does not sound like a cavalier approach to me. The senior CPS lawyer in her concluding statement stated the police investigation had been "thorough and professional".

Encounters with Her Majesty's Constabulary are not always comfortable for those on the receiving end. However, your readers can be reassured that in any encounter no one is considered to be above the law.

John Yates

Assistant commissioner

New Scotland Yard, London SW1

Give Annie Lennox her say

Oh dear. So now only experts are entitled to have an opinion and express it publicly. I refer to Andrew Anthony's interview with Annie Lennox ("I would have been perfect as a man", Magazine). Mr Anthony is keen to ask Annie Lennox about her charity work helping Aids sufferers in South Africa but he criticises her for having opinions about issues she doesn't know everything about. If we extend that principle, then we need to dismantle democracy. After all, we have just had an election in which ordinary people who don't understand economics or global warming have elected a government to enact their wishes.

Martin Price

Devon

The spending you can't defend

With the defence spending review imminent, surely we should consider the 20,000 service men and women – and, in many cases, their families – spending their money in German shops, on German rents, German cars, booze and everything else. There are fighters, helicopters, tanks, and vehicles of all descriptions parked in "camps" for which we pay the German government £1.2bn a year.

Do we really still expect Russian tanks to come rolling across the plains of eastern Europe?

David Hunter

London SW17

I'll tell you what's fair…

I married in 1952 and had a son a year later. There was no benefit payment for a first child. Three years later our second son was born, followed by a daughter. The combined benefit for the two children was less than £1.

My husband, who at that time was earning £12 a week, with a mortgage at 12% on our new house, was taxed in full on PAYE. But I got the money – and very welcome it was too.

Why can't the benefit continue to be paid to all, with the equivalent sum being included on the father's tax?